Has a colony moved in?

[Wandering Man]

I've had this swarm trap in my backyard for 9 months or so.

3Reds said she saw a bee go in and out of the trap earlier today.  This is two to four hours later.  We haven't seen an actual swarm, but the activity has certainly picked up.

I've not added any new comb or pheromone in a couple of months.

What do you who have experience with such things think?

Are these still scout bees, or has the swarm snuck in while we weren't looking?



The music in the background is my neighbor.  He is in a band and may be practicing, or maybe he's just playing music.  I can't tell about him either, feel free to comment on either the bees, the music, or both.

[Perry]

My bet is that your swarm trap has been short-listed by scout bees and is seeing very promising signs. The trap is a bit smaller than what a typical swarm might look for but the interest is there.

[Wandering Man]

The trap is a bit smaller than what a typical swarm might look for but the interest is there.

Thanks Perry.  I am hopeful.

That yellow strap is deceiving.  In the video, it looks like it is the top of the trap.  However, the video only shows the bottom portion of the swarm trap.  It has pretty close to the same volume as a deep, just shaped funny.

[Jen]

ooooWeeee Wman, Looks like you got the right stuff in this box. How did you bait the box?

[Wandering Man]

ooooWeeee Wman, Looks like you got the right stuff in this box. How did you bate the box?

I painted it a girly color, figuring bees were mostly girls. 

I went into the box at the end of January and made sure I still had comb on a frame, then sprayed a spritz of Swarm Commander on the floor.  I think after three months, the pheromone spray is probably gone.  So I figure it must be the girly color that's attracting the bees.

I have framed out the inside of the box, so it only holds three frames, with a lot of wasted space below the frames and to the sides.  But I figure the bees will see that as places they can attach more comb.

If the bees do end up moving in, I'll have some future questions for the forum.  I want to move it to a friend's property, requeen the colony to ensure I'm not raising africanized bees, transfer the bees to a regular nuc and then sell the nuc once the colony is established.

Questions will be about timing and type of nuc.  But I'm not going to count my larvae until they hatch.

[Bakersdozen]

Have you seen pollen being brought in?  I didn't see any in the video.  That would be a sure sign that a swarm has moved in.
Lots of interest there by the scouts.  I think you have a winner there.

[Wandering Man]

Have you seen pollen being brought in?  I didn't see any in the video.  That would be a sure sign that a swarm has moved in.
Lots of interest there by the scouts.  I think you have a winner there.

No pollen.  Yes, I was watching for that, too.

I've only seen one bee hanging around the front entrance this morning, so I'm a little discouraged.

I'll post more if things begin to progress favorably.

[Wandering Man]

Activity seems to be picking up a little this afternoon. 

I've been watching to see where the bees are going when they leave the swarm trap.  They go around the corner of our house and toward the front yard.  That's a relief since all of my hives are in the back yard.

Looks like my neighbor from across the street may be about to share half of his hive with me. 

If they move in, should I tell him?

[Wandering Man]

If they move in, should I tell him?

Well, of course I'll tell him.  The real question is whether I should gloat or be sympathetic ...   \

[Bakersdozen]

The elementary school kids would say, "Finders keepers, losers weepers"!

[riverbee]

scout bees, maybe some 'finders' and a swarm has not moved in yet.

great video wm!

i was trying to watch the behavior of the bees flying in and out, behavior is, when you watch them, significant. scout bees will fly up to the cavity/hole, landing, flying in, walking inside, flying out, looking around like the gps thing going up and down the cavity and flying off.... in a non robbing situation, 'relaxed' i guess.........(robbing is frantic) to me that's a scout bee.

if there is a constant stream of bees going straight in, and straight out the swarm moved in.  i don't think you have a swarm yet wm, you have some scout bees checking it out, and maybe some other curious foragers?

if they move in?
your bees..............

[Wandering Man]

Well, tonight it is me who is weeping.

Someone two blocks away from my house posted a video of a swarm moving into his swarm trap in response to my Facebook post.

There is no longer any activity around my hive.

Now I feel rejected. My swarm trap wasn’t good enough for the girls.   :\'(.  :\'(

[riverbee]

wm, gotta keep your swarm traps 'confidential'.............

[Bakersdozen]

Add more swarm lure.

[Wandering Man]

Add more swarm lure.

That's what 3Reds said.

[Wandering Man]

I followed Bakers and 3Reds advice and put in more swarm lure. We caught a swarm 2 or 3 days ago.

Yesterday Frank the Dachshund got stung when he was on the far side of the yard. I got stung twice while cleaning up my Freeman trays a couple of hours later.

I thought that was awful quick to get hot, but decided to move the hive. This morning we got going and put the hive in a nuc on a friend’s property. Things went surprisingly smoothly, and the bees stayed pretty calm.

I’ve had suspicions about one of the hives, so I put on my bee jacket, and some bbq gloves to push the mowers around the hives.

Here are my gloves. The white spots are stings:



So, with a lot of work, and more stings, 3Reds and I moved this hive to join the swarm. I’m getting them a new queen for Mother’s Day.

[Wandering Man]

I thought people said alarm pheromone smelled like bananas. I thought it smelled like cat urine. Or was that smell something else?

Whatever it is, it is still lingering in my nostrils.

[Wandering Man]

I saw some funny looking bees in the hive. Now that I’m away from the intensity of the bees, I’ve had time to think about them.

I think the hive was fighting off a disease:

https://honeybeesuite.com/chronic-bee-paralysis-virus/

They looked like these bees:

https://goo.gl/images/WvfPvr